AUSTIN, Texas - UNC Asheville men's soccer graduate
Brendan Herb has been named to the Academic All-America® First Team by College Sports Communicators, announced by the organization today (Tuesday, Dec. 19). Herb becomes the third Academic All-America® selection in program history, and the first since
Taylor Durall in 2020. In addition, Herb is the 10th all-time Academic All-America® selection for UNC Asheville across all sports. Herb is also the first Big South Conference men's soccer player to be selected Academic All-America® since Durall.
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Herb was part of a historic 2023 season as a senior for the Bulldogs, as Asheville advanced to the Big South Conference tournament championship for the first time in program history and recorded its first 10-win season in its Division I era. Herb played and started in all 18 matches this season. He shared the team lead and was tied for ninth in goals with four, while leading both the team and conference with seven assists for 15 total points. He scored goals against Navy (Aug. 24), Presbyterian (Sept. 23), Gardner-Webb (Oct. 6) and USC Upstate (Nov. 1) and tallied assists against Navy (Aug. 24), Queens (N.C.) (Sept. 1), Evansville (Sept. 4), Wofford (Sept. 12), ETSU (Sept. 19) and Radford (two, Oct. 14). Herb was named Big South Conference Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 5, 2023). For his efforts this season, he was named to the Big South Conference All-Conference First Team and also to the All-Academic Team, as well as being named a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® selection.
For his career in Asheville, Herb played and started in 34 matches while recording seven goals and 10 assists for 24 points. He also tallied one game-winning goal and was 3-4 in his career on penalty kicks. He was also a two-time All-Conference selection for his career.
"Our staff is extremely proud of Brendan as he becomes our program's third Academic All-American," said head coach
Mick Giordano. "He has continued to etch his name in the history books for our program and to be named to the First Team not only shows his dedication in the classroom, but also his quality on the field. This is just a true testament to all of his hard work over the years to be the best student-athlete he could be. As our captain, he truly demonstrates what we want for all of our student-athletes on and off the field. He has raised the bar for everyone within our program, while putting the UNC Asheville brand back on a national stage. This recognition caps off an amazing season for Brendan and we truly could not be happier for him."
This is Herb's first career Academic All-America® honor. The Corvallis, Ore., native finished his undergraduate career with a 4.0 grade point average, graduating from UNC Asheville earlier this month with a bachelor's degree in management.